We Got An Offer On Our House!

And they offered our full asking price! Doing a little happy dance…. Ok, I’m back. We had three more showings today (that made nine total), including a second showing for a buyer who was here on Thursday. That showing ended at 6:30 this evening, and by 7:45 they had made an offer. Our realtor said that another buyer who looked at the house today was ready to make an offer too, and might come in with a backup offer.

Obviously, we are thrilled. A full price offer after 72 hours on the market is awesome. And it makes the last four months of working pretty much non-stop on the house seem very much worth it. But now there are lot of hoops to jump through.

First, there is some concern that the buyer’s lender’s appraisal might not agree with the asking price, just because there are some low-value homes in our neighborhood that drag down the comparable home values. Bummer, but our realtor said that there is a good chance that the appraisal will go through without any problems – she just mentioned that this might be a bump in the road.

Then there’s the inspection. We’ll just have to wait and see what comes of that. The big stuff should be ok – new roof, the furnace is only 6 years old, there are no leaks or pipe issues, etc. But everyone we know who has sold a house (including the people who sold this place to us) has had to make some concessions after the inspection, so we’re bracing ourselves for that. Hopefully it will work out ok.

And of course there’s financing. It’s not always easy to get a loan these days, and we’re hoping that the people who made an offer will be able to get their financing together so that this will indeed go through. I’m sure that we’ll be learning a lot about the ins and outs of selling a house over the next few weeks. We know that there will be some bumps, but we’re hoping that they won’t be too big. The offer that we got today comes with a closing date of June 16. I just looked around this place and thought of everything we have to do in the next month. Yikes! Makes me tired just thinking about it. But I suppose it’s a lot less than we’ve already done over the last few months.

Comments

Congrats frugal babe. Of course there’s always the possibility this offer may not turn into a final sale, but the fact you’ve been offered one so quick bodes well. I know how exciting (and stressful) it can be selling a house so good luck and may you have more happy dances in the immediate future.

Thanks everyone! Matt, we used a realtor, and she has been worth every penny. She’s the one who hired the stager and the photographer, both of whom were hugely instrumental (in my opinion) in getting so many showings and such a good offer so quickly.

I would love to use an agent, but am concerned at the cost. You mentioned getting an offer for the full amount. Did that cover the cost of the agent & stager? Or will that have to be taken off your proceeds leaving you with a loss?

Matt,
Our realtor charges 5%, which will come to about $10,750. This amount is split with the buyer’s agent, but is paid by the seller. So when we close, we will pay that commission to the realtor, (it will come out of the proceeds from the sale). The fee for the stager and photographer are paid by the realtor, and come out of her commission. Most realtors charge 6%, so we were happy with her commission, especially considering how much she’s done for us.
Good luck! I hope your house sells quickly and for a good price!

Thanks guys! I feel the love :) Miss T – the house actually wasn’t aggressively priced at all. Our realtor was expecting an offer about 10k below what we listed it at. Now the concern is that it might not appraise for as much as we’ve been offered, in which case we’d likely have to lower our price. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Nice job!! Hey, the extra money will cover the commission! :) I always say that a house is worth what someone else will pay for it – sounds like a good deal all around! Thinking super positive thoughts for the appraisal! :)

Question for you: I love the Green and Crunchy blog (found the link from you), but all of a sudden I find I can’t get on anymore. Said it’s via invite only. Do you know of any address so I can contact the blogger? Thanks